01 Camry Rear Brake "Adjustment"

Earlier this year I had posted to this group inquiring about adjusting
my rear brakes as it seems the pedal has to travel too far in order to
bring the car to a complete stop. At the time the vehicle had 36,000
miles so I was pretty confident the front discs and rear drums didn't
need replacing. The vehicle now has 42,500 miles and the brake issue
is bothering me more than ever. I just had the 3,000 mile interval
oil change and the dealer is once again offering to "adjust" the rear
brakes for $40. Am I to believe he is just going to use the handbrake
for that amount? I don't think so as they have been around for 25
years and have an excellent reputation throughout the area; i.e., not
the typical dealer. I understand the rear brakes self adjust and
began using the handbrake almost daily since hearing of the self
adjusting feature but this has not cured the problem at all. I have
also tried the braking in reverse trick with similar results. I am
wondering if I should pull the rear tires and try manually adjusting
the star wheel and see if this helps. Any thoughts? As a side note
the brakes have never been serviced and the brake fluid is at the
proper level.

I'd check your front pads - they can eaily be gone at 40k. The fronts do a
good 75+% of the braking so while the rear shoes (if drum) can last 100-150k
miles the fronts can go at 30-40k miles easily. Far cheaper to replace them
before its metal on metal. Pull the hand brake up 50 or so times to adjust.
Yes you can adjust them manually if desired since suspect the handbrake only
slightly turns the adjuster. The dealer would manually adjust while he has
on the lift --- a quick $40 for him.

"Jetman5467" <jetman5467@aol.com> wrote in message
news:c0ae5d92.0411270654.421855e8@posting.google.c om...
> Earlier this year I had posted to this group inquiring about adjusting
> my rear brakes as it seems the pedal has to travel too far in order to
> bring the car to a complete stop. At the time the vehicle had 36,000
> miles so I was pretty confident the front discs and rear drums didn't
> need replacing. The vehicle now has 42,500 miles and the brake issue
> is bothering me more than ever. I just had the 3,000 mile interval
> oil change and the dealer is once again offering to "adjust" the rear
> brakes for $40. Am I to believe he is just going to use the handbrake
> for that amount? I don't think so as they have been around for 25
> years and have an excellent reputation throughout the area; i.e., not
> the typical dealer. I understand the rear brakes self adjust and
> began using the handbrake almost daily since hearing of the self
> adjusting feature but this has not cured the problem at all. I have
> also tried the braking in reverse trick with similar results. I am
> wondering if I should pull the rear tires and try manually adjusting
> the star wheel and see if this helps. Any thoughts? As a side note
> the brakes have never been serviced and the brake fluid is at the
> proper level.
>
> Thanks so much.
>
> -Mark

> "Jetman5467" <jetman5467@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:c0ae5d92.0411270654.421855e8@posting.google.c om...
> > Earlier this year I had posted to this group inquiring about adjusting
> > my rear brakes as it seems the pedal has to travel too far in order to
> > bring the car to a complete stop. At the time the vehicle had 36,000
> > miles so I was pretty confident the front discs and rear drums didn't
> > need replacing. The vehicle now has 42,500 miles and the brake issue
> > is bothering me more than ever. I just had the 3,000 mile interval
> > oil change and the dealer is once again offering to "adjust" the rear
> > brakes for $40. Am I to believe he is just going to use the handbrake
> > for that amount? I don't think so as they have been around for 25
> > years and have an excellent reputation throughout the area; i.e., not
> > the typical dealer. I understand the rear brakes self adjust and
> > began using the handbrake almost daily since hearing of the self
> > adjusting feature but this has not cured the problem at all. I have
> > also tried the braking in reverse trick with similar results. I am
> > wondering if I should pull the rear tires and try manually adjusting
> > the star wheel and see if this helps. Any thoughts? As a side note
> > the brakes have never been serviced and the brake fluid is at the
> > proper level.
> >
> > Thanks so much.
> >
> > -Mark

Same problem with '99 camry with rear drums - the self adjusters don't do
the job even though they work fine when tested by pulling the handbrake on
slightly with the wheels off. Don't know why they don't adjust properly by
applying the handbrake when the wheels are on, but dealers obviously
recognize the problem by including a "rear brake adjustment" (they
manually adjust the star wheels) with each 24K service and have done so
since the very first 24K Service. I usually just do this myself now each
year and even so, the rear linings are going to last at least 150
Kiolometeres. Don't know what they changed - my old '87 Camry had
basically the same rear brakes and they self adjusted just fine for 12
years (and each set of shoes lasted 100k so they were doing a desireable
share of the braking). I wonder if they have changed the proportioning
valve setting (and WHY?)

I went to a Toyota dealer and they told me that my rear brakes needs
adjustment. What he did was pull the hand brake and since it was going
up so high, he told me that they are misaligned and wanted to charge
me $60 to do that.

Also, it seems that when I step on the brake pedal, it would depress
quite a distance.

Any thoughts besides forking out $60 to fix it?

crazy@axion.net (Allan) wrote in message news:<crazy-2911042157590001@204.244.233.11>...
> > "Jetman5467" <jetman5467@aol.com> wrote in message
> > news:c0ae5d92.0411270654.421855e8@posting.google.c om...
> > > Earlier this year I had posted to this group inquiring about adjusting
> > > my rear brakes as it seems the pedal has to travel too far in order to
> > > bring the car to a complete stop. At the time the vehicle had 36,000
> > > miles so I was pretty confident the front discs and rear drums didn't
> > > need replacing. The vehicle now has 42,500 miles and the brake issue
> > > is bothering me more than ever. I just had the 3,000 mile interval
> > > oil change and the dealer is once again offering to "adjust" the rear
> > > brakes for $40. Am I to believe he is just going to use the handbrake
> > > for that amount? I don't think so as they have been around for 25
> > > years and have an excellent reputation throughout the area; i.e., not
> > > the typical dealer. I understand the rear brakes self adjust and
> > > began using the handbrake almost daily since hearing of the self
> > > adjusting feature but this has not cured the problem at all. I have
> > > also tried the braking in reverse trick with similar results. I am
> > > wondering if I should pull the rear tires and try manually adjusting
> > > the star wheel and see if this helps. Any thoughts? As a side note
> > > the brakes have never been serviced and the brake fluid is at the
> > > proper level.
> > >
> > > Thanks so much.
> > >
> > > -Mark
>
>
>
> Same problem with '99 camry with rear drums - the self adjusters don't do
> the job even though they work fine when tested by pulling the handbrake on
> slightly with the wheels off. Don't know why they don't adjust properly by
> applying the handbrake when the wheels are on, but dealers obviously
> recognize the problem by including a "rear brake adjustment" (they
> manually adjust the star wheels) with each 24K service and have done so
> since the very first 24K Service. I usually just do this myself now each
> year and even so, the rear linings are going to last at least 150
> Kiolometeres. Don't know what they changed - my old '87 Camry had
> basically the same rear brakes and they self adjusted just fine for 12
> years (and each set of shoes lasted 100k so they were doing a desireable
> share of the braking). I wonder if they have changed the proportioning
> valve setting (and WHY?)
>
> Allan

In article <20041130115415.08186.00001399@mb-m05.aol.com>, robmurr@aol.com
(ROBMURR) wrote:
> There was at least 1 tsb on the proportioning valve to make the
> rear brakes work harder. Its on
> Alldata I am sure.

I saw these TSB's too but my dealership (in Canada) denies all knowledge
of (or any applicability of) any TSB's on "foreign " databases to cars
sold in Canada. I realize SOME might only apply to US made models only,
since the Canadian models are shipped from Japan but the dealerships
attitude is that nothing on ALLDATA applies to Canada!! Strange though
that they added service adjustments required every two years on supposedly
self adjusting brakes. Overall, Toyota is great compared to other car
manufacturers, but they are not above responding to some problems only
when forced to by the much stronger consumer protection regulations in the
US and just omitting some TSB's in markets with wimpy or non- existant
government consumer protection attitudes (as in Canada).

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